Making of an Officer

Soldiers talk about the ROTC program and personal experiences, experience of their cadets. Benefits: military history looks good on a resume (physically fit, disciplined, teamwork, and can stay calm under pressure), "We setup our Lieutenant...

Prepared for Anything

Making of an Officer

Soldiers talk about the ROTC program and personal experiences, experience of their cadets. Benefits: military history looks good on a resume (physically fit, disciplined, teamwork, and can stay calm under pressure), "We setup our Lieutenant...

It is no wonder why military history looks good on a resume because if somebody sees that you were a Second Lieutenant in the Army than they are going to say, okay, this person is physically fit, they are disciplined, they know teamwork, and they can stay calm under pressure. Nothing makes my day more than getting an email from a Lieutenant saying thank you, I feel very well prepared. I have become a more confident person, I am more sure of my decisions; I carry myself a lot better.

We setup our Lieutenants to succeed, not falsely; it is not like getting an award you did not deserve. We are going to put you in a position and we are going to watch you shine. I am excited, I am ready to go out and do what the Army has taught me to do. Now it is really starting to sink in that I am going to be an Officer, I am going to be a Soldier. I am going to be the future. (Chanting in the background) It is a beginning and I think that as a college student you do not want to take on too much, you do not want to take on the world. They make an informed decision to come here serve their country knowing that they are going to commission in four years and be placed in harms way.

These students are not just graduating, it makes me intensely proud that those individuals that are leaving this institution to serve their fellow American citizens. It has to be your personal decision, you have to be dedicated, and it takes a lot of work. You have to be respectable in front of your peers if you want them to respect you. I have come a long way. Four or five years ago if you would have asked me if I wanted to be an Army Aviator I would have told you no, not at all. It was the best decision of my life. I would describe them as some of the finest men and women that I have ever had the privilege to serve with.

To do it you have to have a heart, and that is what I am looking for, people with hearts. Pinning the bars on somebody is saying that I am giving you the authority that most people never get in a lifetime. As a twenty-one year old, fresh out of college, and being in charge of forty to fifty people and saying they are yours now is, their livelihood is in your hands now. That is an awesome responsibility. There is no better way to become that young Officer, that young leader of our Army and of our future, of America's future than going through Army ROTC. If you want to be a leader in life, there is no stronger way to start than Army ROTC. To find out more about the schools that offer ROTC or the program itself, go to: armyrotc.com Start strong with Army ROTC. There's strong, and than there is Army strong.